Eadie puts spotlight on large grow ops

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This article was published 30/04/2019 (2068 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Coun. Ross Eadie wants city hall to crack down on individuals using residential properties to grow large amounts of cannabis for personal medical use.

Eadie (Mynarski) said if the number of cannabis plants requires the installation of specialized ventilation equipment, the production has reached commercial levels and should be restricted to an industrial area.

“I don’t want to stop people from growing their own plants for personal medical purposes, but if there are 200 plants in one house there’s no way that’s a personal medical use — it’s a commercial operation,” he said.

Eadie said he received a complaint from a resident on Burrows Avenue, who suffers from asthma, about a pungent marijuana odour coming from a neighbour’s home. He said he’s also aware of another home in the Maples where 200 cannabis plants are being grown.

“A prescription of one gram of cannabis per day requires the cultivation of five plants,” Eadie said. “There’s no way someone can legitimately be prescribed enough cannabis that requires 200 plants.”

Eadie is bringing a motion to Monday’s community committee meeting that would direct the administration to work with Health Canada to determine the number of cannabis plants required to supply an individual’s personal medical needs.

“I believe the city can use zoning and permits to deal with this problem,” Eadie said, adding he believes the appropriate number of medical pot plants would be in the range of five to 10 per residence.

Manitoba forbids the home cultivation of non-medical cannabis, setting a fine of $2,542 for the offence.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca